Armstrong out tomorrow
- Thread starter Get Nasty
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You are concerned that ND is missing a guy that was a WR a month ago & this board said was not a good RB?
And Dexter was the key to the CFP.
So Armstrong out, Dexter in, & this board is now concerned?
My, how times have changed...
And Dexter was the key to the CFP.
So Armstrong out, Dexter in, & this board is now concerned?
My, how times have changed...
Hop on the Dex train folks... the 2nd most talented player on offense is back
Actually a pretty big blow. Tony “Slow Mo” Jones will do zero/zip/nada against Stanford. Come to think of it, he’s been a YUGE disappointment this year.
Seriously, did you just make that all up? I’m concerned if all the carries go to jones and Davis instead of dex. Armstrong is by far our best rb without Dex. Davis has shown me nothing and jones is a depth player getting too much PT.
he hasn’t been a disappointment, he’s been what we thought he would be. He’s had some good runs and a lot of underwhelming runs.
On the positive side, Jones has probably been the most dependable back the past few years. You know what you’re getting with him but he consistently does it all (block, catch and run) and has been available for every game. I’d just prefer him to be closing out games in the 4th quarter.
So much of our fan base is so stupid.
Jones is LEADING our team in yards/carry (at 5.7) and rushing yards, and is on pace for about 1000 total yards on the season.
That’s significantly better than Theo Riddick’s senior season (2012) and about even with CJ Prosise in 2015, behind only Josh Adams.
Where do you idiots come up with this crap?
I’m concerned in a game like this, against a team that always presents a physical test you need all the depth you can get. We don’t have a go to guy like Josh Adams. We need everyone to contribute Saturday night.
No question that Armstrong is a major loss. Claiming he’s not would be insane. He’s given us a volume of good snaps and numerous big plays.
But we should be okay with Jones. He can gives us 25-30 good touches.
Hopefully Dexter is ready to give us 10 good touches and big play in the first game of his return, because the player I’m actually worrried about is Davis.
I’m just not sure that Davis is ready to the us good touches agaisnt a quality opponent yet (though I think he’ll get there eventually)
That is certainly a fair point but debatable. That said claypool and Williams do possess great athletic ability but Chris finke and Tony Jones are both better football players.
He's averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Not too bad.
Link: https://und.com/cumestats.aspx?path=football&year=2018
Jones is a product of the playcall and blocking. If the play should get 2 he gets 2, if it should get 8 he gets 8. When jones is in at RB teams do not bring any extra hats in to stop it. Not having someone the defense has to account for makes our passing game more difficult. If Stanford had jones at RB Nd fans would be predicting at 17+ point victory. I’m not saying we are now going to lose because Armstrong is out, I’m saying Dex can fill in for Armstrong. If he doesn’t then I’m concerned. Our running game has been trending in the right direction, a lot of that was due to Armstrong.
I agree with this, Davis hasn’t shown me anything. I hope jones gets 25-30 carries because that means we’re winning and line is playing great. That’s a lot of carries. I expect us to throw it a lot.
This is completely wrong.
Jones isn’t a flash player like Williams, but he is FAR more efficient. When 2 yards are blocked, he typically gets 4. When 4 are blocked, be gets 7.
Furthermore, when Jones has been in the game defenses have been more likely to bring an extra hat against the run, not less likely. That is partially due to the situation (shorter yardage, red zone, etc) and partially due to the fact that it’s hard for 1 DB to bring him down.
Jones has been our best RB in 2018, the one that defenses have had to account for the most. Armstrong is our highest potential RB, but he’s not better than Jones yet, as he still misses too many reads and blocks.
Jones is more than good enough to help us win this game as our bell cow back, with now contribution for Dexter.
That being said, it would be great if Dexter got his head out of his ass and contributed 5-10 carries, and ideally 1 big play.
Davis has flashed potential as an APB, with name you miss skills and catching ability.
He just needs to learn feel at the position.
Wrong.
Armstrong is our flashiest RB and our best big play guy, but he misses too much to overtake Jones yet.
If he gets back to 100% health quickly, he could keep improving and be there by the end of the year, but it would take some fairly significant improvement.
Hopefully Armstrong is able to come back healthy and quickly.
He looked unreal against wake.... he showed the entire package that we haven’t seen from a Nd RB in some time. One game and against wake but he improved on his pad level big time. He ran over people.
We obviously do not agree, I want jones to do well, but my biggest concern with Armstrong out is Davis getting increased carries. He’s looked bad.
Armstrong looked good against wake, but that’s the worst defense we’ve seen all year, and even then he was still missing reads (and making up for it with splash plays)
Jones has been our best RB in 2018. Armstrong could overtake him with continued improvement, but that’s what it would take.
I agree on Davis. I’d imagine he’ll only see the field in 2 back sets against Stamford, where we can use him as a threat on the edge or as a pass catcher. Although I’m still waiting for the trick play “halfback pass” with Davis. Maybe this is where we pull that out??
If Williams is actually ready, finally, then I’d like to see him get some/most of Armstrong’s carries, until Armstrong is not. If Williams is the same guy he has been in previous seasons, I’d rather see Jones get 25-30 touches and just sprinkle in a few touches for Williams and Davis.
You don’t need teams to “fear your RB as a homerun threat” at all. That’s not what changes defensive formations.
Fearing that the RB will keep picking up 1st Downs, that is what moves extra defenders into the box and/or closer to the LOS
Hopefully book is ready to take advantage of that against Stanford (and Jones is able to force it)
Agree with all this...most people only see that he's a step slower than dex and jafar and because it's the easiest part of the position to notice on TV they think he's the worst one. What hasn't been said is that there is nothing wrong with getting 2 when the play is designed to get 2 and 10 when it's 10. It means he's executing at a high level. Like you said its efficient. The 80 yard runs are exciting as fans, but the runs that keep you ahead in down and distance win games. That's exactly why Book is playing over WB right now...he executes the plays like they are designed to be run. I've enjoyed watching Jones so far this year.
I think we are concerned about his health status. Is it a joint infection or soft tissue infection? A huge difference. He was becoming a good running back who could catch out of the backfield. Dexter hasn’t played yet. A big loss
Not a question of which back is better...they’re different. Not sure why any ND fan would not appreciate how hard Jones runs between tackles, and how consistently effective he has been. I think we’ll have a really good complimentary running attack going forward with Jones and Dexter and Armstrong, with Armstrong getting the most carries.
I thought jones ran pretty bad vs wake. Jones ran hard vs Vanderbilt for sure. I feel there’s been 3-4 plays to jones where he’s made the play but a good back would have had a TD. That can be huge against good teams.
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